Napa Valley, renowned for its picturesque vineyards and world-class wines, remains a top destination for wine enthusiasts seeking unforgettable tasting experiences. With a multitude of wineries scattered across this idyllic region, choosing where to visit can be a delightful challenge. To help you plan your wine country adventure, we’ve curated a list of the best Napa Valley wineries to explore in 2024.

Rutherford Hill Winery: Rutherford

Reservations: No, save for specific experiences.

Signature offerings: The 60-minute Signature Selection wine tasting costs $60 per person and includes five seasonal wines.

Rutherford Hill Winery is located off the famed Silverado Trail in Napa Valley. This farm is well-known for its full-flavored merlots. Some wine connoisseurs characterize Rutherford’s wines as having a distinct chocolate or coffee flavor. The stunning home is set on a hilltop and boasts a more than 100-year-old olive grove. It also has a roughly mile-long cave system for maturing wine.

The 90-minute ATV & Cave Tour, available twice daily for $150 per person, allows tourists to explore the vineyards and caves. You can also participate in the Taste of Merlot experience for $60 per person or reserve a picnic table on the grounds. This winery welcomes children and dogs. Reservations are not required for all activities, but they are strongly encouraged.

Address: 200 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford, CA 94573

Phone: 707-963-1871

Chateau Montelena Winery, Calistoga

Reservations are required: Yes, excluding the Taste of Montelena experience.

Signature offerings: Must-try wines include the property’s chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and zinfandel.

For a romantic encounter, visit the ivy-covered Chateau Montelena and meander around its lovely Calistoga gardens while sampling its strong wine selection. Set against Mount Saint Helena, the chateau was erected in the late 1800s to mimic an English Gothic castle’s gatehouse. The tower overlooks a garden, a lake, and the vineyards on the property, making it ideal for a romantic stroll.

Visitors can participate in wine sampling every day. Tasting fees for A Taste of Montelena begin at $60 per person, with limited walk-in options. Other tastings require reservations. The semi-private, seated experiences at Chateau Montelena include a sampling of current-release wines as well as more unique vintages. Visitors must be at least 21 years old, and dogs are not allowed.

Address: 1429 Tubbs Lane, Calistoga, CA 94515

Phone: 707-942-5105

Clos Pegase: Calistoga

Reservations are required: No, except for the cave trip.

Signature amenities include strolling through the serene historic garden, which focuses on water conservation and incorporates drought-tolerant “wine palms.”

Clos Pegase, located less than 3 miles from downtown Calistoga, is dog-friendly and has 20,000 square feet of wine caves in addition to vines and gardens. Guests can sample estate-grown wines and enjoy vineyard views from the tasting room or the patio. Clos Pegase, known for its iconic postmodern design by architect Michael Graves, is located on a volcanic hill and houses both a winery and a home. The property’s massive entrance, open roof, and cypress-lined courtyard will all impress visitors.

Clos Pegase offers a variety of red wines, including merlot and cabernet sauvignon, as well as chardonnay. Tastings and cave excursions are available on Thursdays through Mondays. Reservations can be made via the winery’s website. Flights start at $50 per person. The resort is family-friendly, although children are not permitted on excursions.

Address: 1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga, CA 94515

Phone: 866-474-3021

Chimney Rock: Napa

Are reservations required? Yes

Signature offerings: Due to soil variability, the site has 28 separate vineyard blocks, allowing for a wide range of grapes to flourish. Chimney Rock’s notable wines include a Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux red mix with cassis and blackberry notes.

Chimney Rock is a must-see vineyard located on the Silverado Trail in the Stags Leap District. It has Cape Dutch architecture, a popular style in South Africa that comprises white stucco exteriors and other distinguishing features. Visitors can enjoy the magnificent wall sculpture of Ganymede, known in Greek mythology as the cupbearer to the gods, from the tasting room’s courtyard.

Chimney Rock, known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, offers a 90-minute Vineyard Odyssey Tour & Tasting every day. For $195 per person, guests will receive a tour of the estate, an overview of winemaking, and an outdoor tasting session. The other choice is Taste of Terroir, an hour-long tasting that costs $70 per person. This winery welcomes kids and dogs.

Address: 5350 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558

Phone number: 707-257-2641

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars – Napa

Reservations are required: Yes

Signature offerings: Stag’s Leap’s wines, especially the award-winning cabernet sauvignon, have gained worldwide acclaim thanks to their single-vineyard bottlings.

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is a prominent Napa Valley winery located in the city of Napa, ideal for your next wine trip. Founded in 1970, the winery won the top prize for its cabernet sauvignon at the 1976 Judgement of Paris wine competition. Today, Stag’s Leap offers a variety of tasting options and is best known for its cabernet sauvignon, while it has also received recognition for its chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

On-site events include a signature taste for $95 per person and a behind-the-scenes tour of some of the property’s picturesque wine caverns for $125 per person. Stag’s Leap does not welcome guests under the age of 21 or dogs.

Address: 5766 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94558

Phone: 707-261-6410

Castle of Amoroso: Calistoga

Reservations are required: Yes

Signature offerings: The 14th-century castle winery includes several spectacular rooms, towers, and terraces to visit, including a torture cell. Book the Diamond Estate Tour & Wine Tasting for $75 per person and receive a guided tour of the castle.

Castello di Amoroso in Calistoga offers wine tastings fit for royalty. The estate’s Italian-style medieval castle has five towers, more than 100 rooms (95 of which are dedicated to winemaking), and 1,000-pound doors manufactured in Italy. Furthermore, the regal property has a church, a drawbridge, secret passageways, and a loggia. It has welcomed prominent guests such as actor Robert Redford, NFL player Joe Montana, and music sensation Jon Bon Jovi. Children can visit this winery for $25 and receive a cup of grape juice, but they are not permitted on tours.

Wine enthusiasts can enjoy a variety of tours and tastings at Castello di Amoroso, some of which are accompanied with cheeses or chocolates. The winery produces a variety of wines, including pinot grigio, pinot noir, and a “Super Tuscan” mix. It also offers single-vineyard wines. Take a self-guided castle tour and enjoy a five-wine tasting for $60; alternative food-friendly activities include guided tours, charcuterie pairings, and a lavish tasting centered just on Cabernet Sauvignon. Visitors can even spend the night at Monastero le Vallesi, an Italian monastery that is over a thousand years old.

Address: 4045 St. Helena Highway, Calistoga, CA 94515

Phone number: 707-967-6272

Domaine Carneros: Napa

Reservations are required: Yes

Signature offerings: This winery caters to individuals who enjoy sparkling drinks. Bubbles & Bites: A Journey to Southeast Asia is a $99 multicourse tasting that pairs four sparkling wines with foods from Vietnam, Thailand, and India.

Sip wine in Domaine Carneros’ French-inspired castle, which is modeled after France’s 18th-century Château de La Marquetterie. Enjoy a reservation-only seated tasting on a patio overlooking the estate, along with charcuterie and cheese. The winery’s award-winning sparkling wine and pinot noir are perennial audience favorites. Travelers looking for an even more unique experience could sign up for The Art of Sabrage, which features the property’s famed wines mixed with meat and caviar and costs $150 per person. Domaine Carneros even provides vegan cheese pairings and caviar flights. Standard tasting flights cost $40 per person.

All guests to Domaine Carneros must be 21 or older, and dogs are not permitted.

Address: 1240 Duhig Road, Napa, CA 94558

Phone: 800-716-2788, ext. 150

Inglenook: Rutherford

Reservations are required: Yes

Distinctive offerings: Rubicon, the property’s distinctive red wine, is named after the river that Julius Caesar crossed in 49 BC.

Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola own this winery and chateau near Rutherford, which contains both the old Inglenook chateau (built in the 1880s) and the Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery. Inglenook features a European-style café, underground cellars, and an open-air courtyard with a reflecting pool. This winery welcomes children aged 12 and above but does not accept dogs. Inglenook produces varieties such as syrah and sauvignon blanc, and wine tastings begin at $75 per person.

Address: 1991 St. Helena Highway, Rutherford, CA 94573

Phone: 707-968-1100

Del Dotto Estate, St. Helena

Reservations are required: Yes

Hallmark offerings: Wine enthusiasts can experience varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, as well as the estate’s hallmark wine, The Beast.

Del Dotto Estate in St. Helena pays tribute to the Del Dotto family’s legacy with beautiful wine caves, Italian marble, and huge chandeliers. Visitors to the caves can experience the Cave Experience & Barrel Tasting, which starts at $120 per person. The experience includes both white and red wines, with some poured directly from oak barrels collected from around the world. This winery does not accept guests under the age of 21, nor do they allow dogs. In addition to the Del Dotto Estate in St. Helena, the winery operates a tasting room in Napa called Piazza Del Dotta.

Address: 1445 St. Helena Highway S., St. Helena, CA 94574

Phone: 707-963-2134

HALL Location: St. Helena

Reservations are required: No, save for specific experiences.

Signature offerings: Visitors can not only drink world-class wines, but also explore the property’s extensive art collection, which is a unique Napa Valley offering. HALL St. Helena also boasts a cutting-edge facility for producing small-lot red wines.

Art enthusiasts would be remiss to leave Napa Valley without visiting HALL St. Helena, a vineyard that combines modern artwork with exquisite wines. To truly immerse yourself in the property’s art, schedule the 90-minute HALLmark Tour & Tasting (for $60 per person), which includes a tour of the grounds, additional information on winemaking, and some of the winery’s artwork. At the end of the tour, you’ll be treated to a seated tasting of four award-winning wines and cheese pairings in a private salon. You can also use the Hall Wines St. Helena Tour app to take a self-guided art tour.

The estate is well-known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc grape varieties. Book the Art of Cabernet experience (which costs $40 to $60 per person, depending on the day) to sample some of the vineyard’s top cabernet sauvignon wines. Most (but not all) experiences need a minimum age of 21, and dogs are not permitted. Walk-ins are accepted, but reservations are preferred. HALL also offers individual encounters at its Rutherford location by reservation only.

Address: 401 St. Helena Highway S., St. Helena, CA

Phone: 707-967-2626

Opus One Winery, Oakville

Reservations are required: Yes

Signature wines: One of the winery’s latest releases is the Opus One 2019, which costs $455 per bottle. This wine has dark berry notes and dark chocolate bitterness.

Opus One Winery, based in Oakville, is known for its Opus One and Overture wines. It has four vineyards that grow five Bordeaux grape varietals. For $125 per person, tourists can enjoy an hour of wine overlooking a courtyard surrounded by century-old olive trees. Alternatively, you can upgrade to the 90-minute Opus One Experience ($200 per person) and tour the winery and vineyard. You’ll also learn about the estate’s winemaking processes while sipping a glass of vino. This winery is only open to people over the age of 21 and does not accept pets.

Address: 7900 St. Helena Highway, Oakville, CA 94562

Phone: 800-292-6787

Conclusion

Whether you’re a seasoned oenophile or a casual wine enthusiast, Napa Valley offers an array of wineries and tasting experiences to suit every palate. From historic estates to modern marvels, these 18 best Napa Valley wineries promise unforgettable visits and exceptional wines that capture the essence of this world-renowned wine region. Cheers to your next wine-country adventure.

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